It’s been awhile since I’ve written about The Biggest Loser, and as many of you know, it’s been back on TV for the past few weeks. Overall, I really do enjoy watching it since for the most part, it is a positive, uplifting reality show about people making positive changes in their lives.
What I don’t like is how they work out so darned much, so much and so hard that I just don’t believe it’s realistic for the everyday person to emulate. Now I’m not a personal trainer, and they do have a disclaimer at the end of the show stating that each person is under medical care (so they aren’t supposed to be endangering the contestants), however I just don’t see their workouts translating to “real life”.
I’ve found an interesting read by Becky who describes the Biggest Loser as losing weight in “fantasy land”. In her post, she outlines her thoughts on the “good and bad” aspects of the show:
- Forcing change – (bad) It rarely lasts in the long run.
- Motivation – (good) You can gain some motivation from the show, which is why I still watch the show. 🙂
- 5 hour long workouts – (bad) You can’t compete with that in “real life”, however if you realize that’s just a part of the show, you can still take some motivation away from it.
The most important point that Becky makes is the fact that the show can come across as promoting the thought that by forcing yourself to lose the weight, your issues will be resolved. If you are like me and have had your ups and downs with successful weight loss followed by regaining and then even losing again, you know that there just isn’t a magical cure for your overweight. Yes, diet and exercise have their place, but you must heal the cause of your overeating instead of focusing only on the symptom (your overweight) with diet and exercise.
Please know that I’m not bashing The Biggest Loser, I honestly do think it has some great qualities and can help motivate you (it helps motivate me to work out). It would be an awesome show if they included the healing of the cause of overeating instead of focusing only on the diet and exercise, which again only addresses the symptom of the problem. I guess that would be a “Dr. Phil for food abusers”, and it might not get top ratings because it wouldn’t have the drama of the team competitions that The Biggest Loser has.
What do you think? Do you gain motivation from The Biggest Loser, or have you lost interest in the show?
I’ve watched the show exactly one time – last week. We were at a KOA somewhere last week, probably in Utah or New Mexico, and for a change in the evening I wasn’t on the computer.
The Biggest Loser is not a show that would motivate me, even if I were one to spend a lot of time watching TV like I used to. But then I feel the same way about all so-called reality shows.
I have never seen the show. I am not one for much TV. I tend to get so darned hungry watching the ads at night that I just avoid it altogether. But I agree that five hour workouts are rarely necessary and probably are harmful. They would send me running the other direction. I do an hour a day on the treadmill and that’s hard for me to keep up. Five hours would be unendurable in the long run. I agree with your assessment of the show even though I have never seen it.
I haven’t seen the show — don’t own a television — but I believe (and have personally found) that establishing an exercise habit is critical to maintaining weight loss and overall health. Once I spend 30 days in a row going to the gym, getting to know the desk clerks by name, etc. going on day 31 just feels natural. Starting to exercise under a controlled environment like that would also be a good idea because you can get over that initial hump where you’re exhausted and able to do very little, so by the time you make it home, you’re not as intimidated.
i am motivated by it. it is what it is. lets not read too much into it. its an experiment. no one should think that working out 5 hours a day is good, not even if your a pro athlete. its insane and un realistic for everyday folks.
Hi everyone thanks for your comments! 🙂
@Mike, I would love to take my laptop on the road and be able to say that I was in a KOA last week (and not watching any TV!), how fun that sounds!
@JanB, I know what you mean about the commercials…those marketers know how to push your buttons and start your cravings for that processed food.
@Marina, I’ve never gotten into working out in a gym, (love working out at home), but a lot of people enjoy it. I do know what you mean about getting into the exercise habit though; I’ve found that I actually start to miss it if I don’t exercise.
@Israel, exactly, it is quite unrealistic to think that an everyday person could get in that many hours of exercise each day, much less the fact that it’s not necessary for good health (or weight loss!). I am like you though, I do gain motivation from the show.
5 hour work outs is just not realistic. “Normal”people would never find the time to do that. I personally believe that changing your lifestyle(diet exercise) gradually wil work out better in the long run
Hi Dee,
Right, that many hours spent working out and you wouldn’t have time for much else! 🙂
I’ve never seen the show but have always figured that if you put me on television with the pressure to lose weight in front of that many people, I probably would be highly motivated to lose it. But it does seem that once the pressure is gone, so is the motivation. I don’t even know how long the show has been on. Do most people maintain their weight for 2 years afterward? And if they do, do they keep putting them on the show? It would be interesting to see what happens with them after they are no longer in the spotlight and are just living normal lives.
Hi coventina,
I’ve also wondered about the previous contestants. I have seen a few of them from previous shows in the later finale shows (in the audience), but only a few, and I’ve only seen the guys except for the gal who married one of the other contestants (I don’t remember their names right now, they’re that cute couple that met on the show, they seemed really happy).
I think it would also be hard if you did go on the show and ended up regaining….at least for me, I would feel a ton of pressure. BUT, if you solve those issues that caused you to gain the weight in the first place, as well as make lifestyle changes, then you wouldn’t risk regaining the weight.
That’s the problem I see with only using diet and exercise and not looking at whatever the cause is for your overweight. That must be healed if you want to keep the weight off. 😉